In Cork’s newest bookshop, 1km of custom shelving is heaving with thousands of books
This is our kind of afternoon.
If a quiet hour pottering from shelf to shelf sounds like your cup of tea during the Christmas break, set your sat nav for Skibbereen.
The latest outpost of Inanna Rare Books is now open at The Masonic Hall in the West Cork town, revealing the storied interior of a building that has been under lock and key for decades.
With near 7ft ceilings, the building has been fitted with more than a kilometre of custom shelving created by carpenter JP Simpson from Big Man Tiny Homes, who has worked with Inanna Rare Books for almost two decades, bringing the brand’s bookshop-building dreams to life.
Scroll through the slides here to get an idea of the scale:
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Each shelf is stuffed with rare and secondhand books on philosophy, poetry, literature, travel and exploration, Irish history, law, economics, rare cookery books, and books on natural history and science.
Built in 1863, the building was once known as The Lecture Hall. Interestingly, it was the setting for the great unveiling of the Magnetic Telegraph in October of that year; Frederick P.E Potter printed telegrams for a captivated audience as they came in from Cork.
“We are open from 10 am till 6pm, Thursdays ’til 9pm.” said bookseller Holger Smyth, who opened the new venture alongside his business partner Andoni Aboitiz.
“If you’re looking for something meaningful you might just find it here.
“Thank you all for your amazing support these last couple of weeks. It is much appreciated. Small communities in West Cork need to keep their independent shops going. And we thank you for that.”
For an idea of the treasures that await in Skibbereen, take a look at the website here. Visit inannararebooks.com for more information.
